Microsoft scrambles emergency Windows fixes after Patch Tuesday glitches

Nadella says AI writes 30% of code, and critics say it shows

Microsoft has rushed out several out-of-band updates after January’s Patch Tuesday triggered widespread Windows problems, from broken remote desktop access and reboot loops to Outlook crashes, renewing criticism that Microsoft’s AI ambitions are coming at the cost of basic reliability.

Microsoft has been forced to issue a series of emergency out-of-band (OOB) updates following reports of problems following the January 13th Patch Tuesday updates.

The first issue saw remote desktop connections because they couldn’t reliably access Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 cloud services.

The second problem affects devices protected by Secure Launch which is a virtualization-based security feature designed to block firmware-level threats, The update stopped shutdown and hibernation working properly, and users reported finding themselves stuck in a reboot loop rather than being able to power off properly.

Reports came from both enterprise and home users. There has also been a steady stream if reports of other reliability issues such as Outlook failing to launch and freezing whilst open, black screens, and more generalised glitches.

Microsoft has acknowledged these issues in it's message centre and published six different OOB updates for supported versions of Windows 11 (23H2 through 25H2), Windows 10 (22H2), and Windows Server versions from 2019 to 2025. They will eventually be incorporated into February’s Patch Tuesday updates.

These updates should resolve the remote login and shutdown problems but at the time of writing no fix has been issues for the problems specifically affecting Outlook.

The latest problems with Windows 11 come just three months after Microsoft finally stopped supporting Windows 10.

The ongoing reliability challenges being experienced by enterprise users of Windows 11 are more frustrating given the decade-long existence of the Windows Insider programme, where licence holders can beta test Microsoft’s code updates in return for pre-release access to new versions.

Microslop

Microsoft is pushing hard it’s vision of ‘Agentic OS’ where Copilot aids users in real time and acts following natural language prompts. In addition to the criticism that these changes have been forced on users and that Microsoft has not been transparent about features such as data telemetry capabilities, criticism is also mounting that the focus on AI has been at the expense of the quality of the Windows enterprise experience.

Indeed, some angry critics have coined the phrase ‘Microslop’ to describe the growing gap between Microsoft’s apparent desire to push Copilot into every aspect of the user experience and what its users want.

Microsoft has pushed back against this characterisation, emphasising the potential security and accessibility benefits that AI can bring, and arguing that AI is simply a non-negotiable fact of the modern era.

Indeed, last year, CEO Satya Nadella said that 30% of Microsoft’s code was now AI -generated - a fact that won’t be lost on those currently experiencing problems.